Defendant slashes lawyer in courtroom

SAN DIEGO — A defendant in a San Diego criminal trial used a razor blade Thursday to slash his defense lawyer in the face in front of jurors and more than a dozen Grossmont High School students who were there on a field trip.

Defense attorney William Burgener was cut on the cheek around 10:20 a.m. in Superior Court with a blade that the defendant had reportedly hidden in his mouth. Burgener represented one of three men on trial in an attempted murder case.

The defendants are alleged to be members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

Burgener was taken out of Courtroom 25 on a gurney with a bandage wrapped around his head. He was sitting up and talking as the gurney was rolled away.

Jurors were taken to an adjacent courtroom and interviewed, while the students were questioned in another part of the downtown courthouse.

When speaking to the jurors later, Judge Peter Deddeh — who is presiding over the trial — said he has been handling criminal cases for 30 years as a lawyer and judge, and had never witnessed such an incident.

“Most of us have not experienced something like this,” Deddeh said.

It was not immediately clear how a jail inmate could have smuggled a razor blade past the sheriff’s deputies who handle courthouse security.

Sheriff’s Department officials declined to discuss the incident specifically, noting that an investigation is ongoing, but said all inmates are searched before being transported to court.

“If something like this happens, we certainly want to take every precaution we can,” said Capt. Dave Moss of the sheriff’s Court Services Bureau.

After the slashing, Burgener called the courtroom and spoke to defense attorney Stephen Cline, who is expected to take over the case for him. Cline said Burgener was stable, and doctors were evaluating his wound to determine the best treatment.

The attack occurred as the last witness was testifying at the trial, said court spokeswoman Karen Dalton. Deputies subdued the defendant and cleared the courtroom.

The defendants — Eduardo Macias, 32; Geronimo Polina, 35; and Lionel Quinteros, 26 — are accused in a prison attack at Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa. They face charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon by a prisoner and conspiracy, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Burgener, a veteran defense lawyer who has been practicing since 1979, represented Macias.

The judge ordered the attorneys to return to court Friday morning, when he will decide whether the trial will continue.

One of the defense lawyers said his client wants to go forward with closing arguments. Another asked for a mistrial. The prosecutor asked for time to conduct research and figure out how to proceed.

About 100 Grossmont High School seniors were on a field trip to the courthouse Thursday, according to Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Ralph Swenson. About 10 to 15 students were in the courtroom where the slashing occurred, but all of the students on the trip were safe and no one was injured, Swenson said.

Two investigations of the slashing are under way: one to determine whether criminal charges will be filed and an internal review to determine how a jail inmate smuggled a weapon into the courthouse.

Moss said five deputies and a sergeant were assigned to the courtroom.

Sheriff’s Capt. Daniel Pena, who is responsible for the Central Jail in downtown San Diego, said inmate searches range from a pat-down to a full-clothing examination and visual body check, depending on the inmate’s classification. He said the deputies can also check inside an inmate’s mouth.

Pena said most inmates go through metal detectors inside the jail before being transferred to court. But high-risk inmates wearing waist and leg chains may not pass through those structures.

“Searches would still occur before the restraints are applied,” he said.

Violent or outrageous antics rarely occur in San Diego courtrooms, but they are not unprecedented.

In January 2009, a robbery trial came to an abrupt halt when defendant Weusi McGowan smeared feces on his lawyer and threw it at jurors. McGowan had apparently smuggled a plastic bag filled with excrement into the building.

The judge declared a mistrial.

In December 1991, Donald Wayne Shantos of Pacific Beach — who had been convicted of a drug conspiracy — killed himself in a federal courtroom by swallowing potassium-cyanide pills. He quietly removed his false teeth and put the pills in his mouth, while jurors were being polled individually to confirm the guilty verdicts.